


Astonishment and Dread

by schuylers



Category: Ghost Quartet - Malloy
Genre: I wrote this in a traffic jam, Maybe - Freeform, dave malloy please validate my headcanons, like this could have happened, not canon but also not not canon, please
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 17:58:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10645083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schuylers/pseuds/schuylers
Summary: “Do you remember Lady Usher?” she asked. “And her daughter, Roxie?”“And her daughter, Starchild!” Dunyazad sat up, eager to listen to her older sister’s stories. “She was stolen!”Scheherazade smiled sadly, pulling her sister closer.“Let me tell you what really happened…”





	Astonishment and Dread

**Author's Note:**

> This is really short & also my first Ghost Quartet fanfic. Enjoy!

 

“Scheherazade,” a tiny voice echoed through the grand palace hall. “Can you tell me a story?”

The older girl sighed a heavy sigh - a sigh years older than she - and combed slender fingers through her sister’s red hair. 

“Do you remember Lady Usher?” she asked. “And her daughter, Roxie?”

“And her daughter, the starchild!” Dunyazad sat up, eager to listen to her older sister’s stories. “She was stolen!”

Scheherazade smiled sadly, pulling her sister closer.

“Let me tell you what really happened…”

 

A shadowed figure stood, concealed behind a leaning building that may have appeared whimsical had it not been the dead of night. The absence of streetlights disturbed the figure, who watched as a veritable gang of children stared and giggled at him from a gutter. 

A harsh wind whipped its way into the rookery, and the bundle he held began to cry; loud, shaking sobs that caused the gutter-children to leap up and run into a dark building. 

A second figure appeared next to him, seemingly out of nowhere. As she spoke, she lifted the hood she wore, revealing auburn hair and inquisitive eyes. 

“Do you have it?” She asked. 

The Fool was taken aback, not only by her forthrightness, but by the striking resemblance she shared with his late sister, Rose. 

He nodded, any words falling flat before they left him. 

“Give me the child.” she commanded, outstretched arms quivering in the night air. 

The baby - the starchild - was passed from the Fool to the wanderer, who gave him a drawstring bag in exchange. The Fool shook it, a sick grin spreading across his face as he heard the  _ clink  _ of coins. 

And he watched, as Rose Red tucked his niece into another shawl, and dissipated into the shadows. 

 

“Roxie’s brother  _ sold  _ the starchild?” Dunyazad looked at her sister in horror. “Why?”

“He was greedy,” Scheherazade said. “And jealous of his sister - their parents favoured her.”

The younger shook her head in disbelief. “That's terrible.” she said. “Did the Fool ever tell Roxie? Or their parents?”

“No. But he would live to regret it. Later in his life, he would do something terrible-- but that's another story.”

“Your stories are wonderful, dear sister.” Dunyazad smiled, “But they scare me so. I'm glad they're just stories.”

“Yes, child…” the storyteller mused. “They're simply stories.”

The piece of Rose Red that Scheherazade saw in her sister smiled, before Dunyazad hurried off to find David. 

  
  



End file.
